The Rojak Librarian brings us a fascinating story accompanying the grave of Tok Cheng Tuan (seen here with the tomb of his wife) who died in 1927.

Read the rest of this entry »

The name William Willets may not be immediately be familiar, but he played an important role as one of the curators of the NUS Art Museum. NUS Museum intern Eddie Koh looks into the life and work of Willets and his role in the art history of Southeast Asia.

Read the rest of this entry »

Andy blogs about M. Ismail (pictured here on the far right), who was a Malay music icon in the 1960s famous for his folk music and who also sang for Radio Singapura. At the same time, he was also a school teacher!

Read the rest of this entry »

Gastronaut blogs about the Sze Thye Cake shop on beach road, whose owner Mr Koh works 364 days a year!

Read the rest of this entry »

Remember Irene Yap? Her singing career started in 1966 when she was only just 11 and had a professional singing career while she was still in school – a career that lasted for 15 years.

Read the rest of this entry »

Gurkhas. Their name evokes images of tough Nepalese men, often reserved as elite forces. Gurkhas have been serving in Singapore for over 60 years, and photographer Zakaria Zainal creates a photo essay on some of these men who have served in Singapore. You can see his work in his website:

Our Gurkhas is an anthology of portraits and anecdotes from the retired Singapore Gurkhas as they reminisce about life in the Lion City — from the 1950s till modern day Singapore. This is a work in progress.

Check out Our Gurkhas here.

TIONG BAHRU is coming home, for a special one-off screening at the National Museum of Singapore as part of the Singapore Writers Festival…and director Joe Lawlor will be in town to present the film!

The film, shot last year in the historic estate and its famous hawker centre, has been screening at festivals around the world over the past year, to much acclaim, and this will be the first time Singaporean audiences will be able to see the film again since its premiere run last year.

At this free screening, Joe will be talking about how place and community inspire his and partner Christine Molloy’s work and why they chose Tiong Bahru for the tenth of their acclaimed CIVIC LIFE films. Joe will also talk about the process of writing the script, making the film with the community of the estate, and how the film has been received around the world. He will also be talking with the audience about how places and personal stories can be the starting point for their own acts of creation.

For more details, and for info as to how to book tickets, click here.

If Singapore is the city of food, then here’s a piece of culinary history for you – Gastronaut interviews one of the four heavenly kings of Cantonese cooking and learns about how the popular Chinese New Year dish Yu Sheng was invented.

Read the rest of this entry »

Soccer fans will need no introduction to Malek Awab, who played for Singapore in what can be called our glory days of the Malaysia Cup. Jerome talks to him about the last match Singapore played in the Malaysia Cup in 1994 – when Singapore won the cup beating Pahang 4-0.

Malek Awab and Jerome Lim of The Long and Winding Road

Read the rest of this entry »

If you haven’t done so already, check out Jerome’s series on the Faces of the Railway, featuring the people who work in and around the now-closed Tanjong Pagar Railway station: people like the ticketing man at the counter, the bookstore vendor, and the station master.

Encik Ayub, the last station master at Tanjong Pagar

Read the rest of this entry »